Mercer Island Reporter, August 21, 2013

Mercer Island Reporter, August 21, 2013

August 21, 2013 edition of the Mercer Island Reporter

Mercer Island
www.mi-reporter.com
REPORTER
Serving the Mercer Island community since 1947
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
Wednesday, Wednesday,August March 20, 21, 2013 | 75¢
MI | THIS WEEK
Preview of new MI history book is Aug. 22 at Island Books
The 10th annual Senior Foundation book night will be held on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Island Books.. The evening will feature a sneak preview of the soon-tobe published “Mercer Island History: From Haunted Wilderness To Coveted Community”. Refreshments will be provided.
Small but mighty
Solicitors not tied to burglaries
Laws to control those who come to sell here Island are legally complex
editor@mi-reporter.com
By Mary L. Grady
Listening sessions next Tuesday, Wednesday for MISD school plans
The Mercer Island School District will host two more listening sessions for the community to learn about ongoing plans to build and expand Island schools. One will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in the Islander Middle School multi-purpose room, concerning plans for IMS. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the North Campus Gym, learn about plans to build a new elementary school and the high school expansion. Learn more at www.mercerislandschools.org.
Kids on Keiko Stafford’s Lil’ Kickers team jostle for the ball at Homestead Field on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013. The Lil’ Kickers summer program, for children up to age 9, meets through the end of August.
Democrats nominate 3 for Maxwell’s seat
King County Council will choose from 3 nominated by 41st District Dems to fill open state rep seat
editor@mi-reporter.com
TEDx talk on education Aug. 27
There will be a TEDx talk at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Mercer Island library. Mercer Island School Board member Brian Emanuels will speak about technology in the education system, and there will be a video address by Salman Khan. RSVP to Ben Elliott at benjaminelliott@comcast.net and learn more at www.ted.com.
By Mary L. Grady
The resignation of state Rep. Marcie Maxwell, a Democrat, of the 41st District has set in motion a process that remains obscure to most casual observers of state government. The political party of the outgoing legislator gets to nominate candidates for the interim replacement. The appointee must be a resident in the same district. Three candidates will be ‘nominated’ for Maxwell’s seat, by a vote of the precinct committee
officers (PCO)of the 41st District Democrats at an Aug. 21 meeting. The King County Council will then meet and subsequently choose one of the three as the appointee or, in the event of Council deadlock, the governor will do so. After 10 individuals expressed interest in Maxwell’s seat, five candidates completed questionnaires for the one-year term. The seat will then be up for election in the fall of 2014. There are 200 precincts in the 41st District; more than half do not have PCOs. Candidates can lobby for fellow Democrats to become PCOs, in order to promote their candidacy.
David Ellis
David Ellis is a 2006 graduate
of Mercer Island High School. He holds a degree from Kenyon College with a double major in political science and theater arts. According to his responses on the 41st District’s candidate questionnaire, Ellis has been active as an organizer and fundraiser in statewide campaigns such as Washington United for Marriage, regarding Initiative 74, and in the Sierra Club, WASHPIRG, and environmental causes. He was a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Convention in both 2006 and 2012. Despite his relative youth, Ellis believes he represents a new, unique voice for the Legislature. He calls his approach “passionate progress.” “I am an idealistic person,” he said. “I know how to organize and build coalitions.” Like Maxwell, he said, he will be a strong voice on education and many other issues of importance. On his questionnaire, Ellis lists
In response to requests from the City Council — and a drumbeat of worry from Island citizens, about a growing presence of solicitors and a possible connection to an increase in crime on the Island, the city attorney and police chief have taken another look at how to regulate people who go doorto-door to sell goods or to ask for money. A private investigator working on a high profile burglary at a home on East Mercer Way earlier this year commented that people posing as solicitors were used as lookouts. However, Mercer Island Police
Solicitors | Page 2
Replace | Page 4
Jeffrey Costello
206.595.5709 jeffreycostello@cbbain.com
www.costello-costello.com
206.999.4420 chasecostello@cbbain.com
Chase Costello
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